Refrigerator



3 Sheets-Sl1eet 2. G. ZIMMER.

(No Model.)

REFRIGERATOR;

Patented N0v.'21, 1-882.

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N. PETERS Pholoulhographcr. Washmglum D, c.

' 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. G. ZIMMER.

REFRIGERATOR.

(No Model.)

Patented Nov. 21 1882.

Fly, 6.

N. PETERS. PhoXo-Lxlhogmpher. Washin ton, D. C.

. UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN ZIMMER, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,963, dated November21, 1882.

Application filed April 27, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN ZrMMEa, acitizen of the United States,residing at Richmond, in the county ofHenrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new andusefulImprovements in Refrigerators; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and

t as shown in the accompanying drawings, in

which- I Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, show respectively a transverse and alongitudinal vertical section of an ordinary family refrigerator G111-bodying my improvements. Figs. 1 and 2*", Sheet 2, are like views,illustrating the invention as applied to the larger class ofrefrigerators. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section, illustratingthe application of the invention to preserving-chambers orrefrigerating-rooms. Fig. 4, Sheet 3, is a like view, showing theapplication of the invention to portable beer-coolers. Figs. 5 and 6,Sheet 3, show by a vertical. transverse section and alike horizontalsection the application of the invention to the cooling of malt-liquorsand forcing the same from the cooling-chamber to the counter or bar; andFig. 9, Sheet 1, shows a'slight modification of construction thereof.Fig. 7, Sheet 3, is a perspective view of the ice-receptacle; and Fig.8, Sheet 2, is a detail view of my improved ventilator-register.

Like letters of reference are employed to indicate likeparts whereversuch may occur in the above-described figures of drawings.

In the above drawings, W indicates the inclosing case or box or walls,which are usually composed of double walls, with a filling between thetwoof some suitable non-conductor of heat. t H

In family refrigerators I preferably line the boxes, as usual, withzinc; but in refrigerating-rooms, such as used for the preservation oflarge quantities of meat or other perishable substances, and in whichcomparatively large quantities of ice are usually stored, I find that itis not necessary to line the interior walls at all, for the reason thatwith the perfect ventilation, as hereinafter described, condensationresulting from the rapid. cooling of warm bodies will take place onlyupon the under side of the ice-receptacle itself, and this moisture isat once conducted from the cooling-chamber.

It is the ice-receptacle, preferably made entirely of zinc, and iscomposed of a box or receptacle, 1', that will be of such a shape as tofit the inclosing walls or box either entirely or partially, accordingto the capacity of the refrigcrating-chamber. As the shape of theinclosing-walls will in large stationary refrigerators depend upon thatof the space where it is erected, or in family refrigerators upon theshape given to the inclosing-case, said icereceptacle will thereforevaryin shape accordingly. The depth of the receptacle r will also vary withthe capacity of the cooling-chamber, as will be readily understood, andsaid receptacle has a concave imperforate' bottom, 1", slightly inclinedfrom one end of the receptacle .to the other, as shown. Theice-receptacle has one or more depending flues, It, extending from theice-receptacle downward. Said flue or flues may be of such alength as toreach to the bottom to of the refrigerating-chamber O, as shown in Figs.1 2", 5, and 6, or said flues may extend a certain distance only intothe said refrigeratingchamber, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4., and 9. Ifthe receptacle has'two such flues R, which will generally be foundsufficient even for very large refrigeratingchambers, one of the linesmay be extended to the bottom of said chamber and the other to aboutmidway (more or less) of the said chamber, as shown in Fig. 3. n

At or near the bottomor lower end of the flue or fiues is aventilating-aperture, V, provided with a register-slide, S, or othersuitable device for regulating the admission of air. Thisventilating-aperture communicates with a pipe, P, that serves to carryfresh air to the lower partof the refrigerating-chamber O. In familyrefrigerators the said pipe P may be conducted out of the refrigeratorthrough one of the walls thereof and provided with a suitable register,as shown in Figs. 2 and 2,or. it may be conducted through the lids L Lofthe refrigerator and provided with a register, 19, as shown in Fig. 1.The air flue or flues It of the ice-receptacle are further provided witha series of cold-air .ports, a and a, the former located near the upperend of said air flue .or fiues It and the latter near their lower end.The admission of the cold air from the ice-receptacle through said portsa and a is regulated by means of suitable register-slides, s and s,respectively. These register-slides may be operated from within therefrigerating-chamber, or they may be connected to a rod that passesthrough the inclosing-walls, said rod being there provided with suitableindices to show the extent of closure of said ports by the slide,'asshown, Fig. l, where the full opening of the ports a ore is indicatedwhen the stop I) on the operating-rod lies against the inner wall of thebox, and the full closing is indicated when the stop 1) lies in contactwith the outer wall of said box; and the space of the rod between thestops may have notches 11 that will indicate the extent of the partialclosure of said ports.

Theice-receptaelein small refrigerators,when provided with twodownwardly-projectingcoldair flues R, needs no further support, as theseflues then serve as legs upon which the receptacle is supported, andwhen but one flue is employed then the end of the ice-receptacleopposite said flue will rest upon any suitable support within theinclosing-case. In large refrigerators, when the weight of the ice wouldbe too great for the strength afl'orded by the cold-air flues It, or insuch cases where said flues do not extend to the bottom of the refrigerating-chamber, I form a cradle, I, by means of iron straps t, inwhich the ice-receptacle R is suspended, said straps being'secured totheinclosing-walls.

As above stated, it is not essential to the good operationof theice-receptacle that it should occupy the entire upper space of theinclosing-box. As shown in Fig. 1, it extends only partially over theupper partof the box, and between one ofits walls andthe inclosingcaseisformed an additional refri geratin g-space, 0 said wall being providedwith air-ports a provided with register-slides 8 to establish aninterior circulation of air, as will be described hereinafter.

Below the concave bottom of the ice-receptacle Bis suspended a concavedrip-pan, D, for collecting the vapors that condense upon the bottom ofthe ice-receptacle, this being the only place, as practicallydemonstrated by experience, where such condensation takes place, and forthis reason I do not line large refrigerators with zinc, as usual.

The bottom of the ice-receptacle could be made fiat, if desired. Thisconstruction, however, has two serious disadvantages, in that itrequires a drip-pan of the same width as the ice-receptacle, and,secondly, in that both the water resulting from the condensation ofvapors as well as the water resulting from the melting of the ice wouldrun into the air-flue along its entire width, which is not desirable.

The bottom 1" of the ice-receptacle as well as the drip-pan arerespectively provided with a discharge-spout, r d, that conduct thewater into one of the cold-air passages or fiues It, from whence it isdischarged in the usual manner, by a pipe, P, arranged to prevent theaccess of air to the cold-air flue, either by a water luting, as shownin Figs. 2? and 3, or by an adjustable siphon-discharge, as shown indotted lines in the latter figure, or by providing thedischarge-pipewith a stop cock. In the latter case, where but onecold-air flue R is used, the air-ports V and a must be locatedsufficiently far from the bottom of the flue to allow a certain volumeof water to collect therein without flowing into therefrigeratingchamber and be drawn off from time to time.

T is a pipe that places the ice-receptacle in communication with thepreserving-chamber, and'T' is a like pipe that places said receptacle incommunication with the outer atmosphere. Each of said pipes has aregister, t and t, respectively.

In all cases I prefer to construct the inclosing-case and ice-receptaclein such manner as to admit of the latter being lifted out of theinclosing box or walls, which is especially de-- sirable in familyrefrigerators for the purpose of cleansing. In this case theoperating-rods for the cold-air registers are screwed into sleevesformed on said registers, and the inner stop, I), is screwed upon saidrod, and the waste-water discharge and air pipe must also be arranged soas to be readily disconnected from the ice-receptacle or removed fromthe inclosing-case with it, as shown in Fig. 1', where the pipe P isextended through the lids L L.

To prevent the ice from falling into the coldair flue or flues, I form agrating, F, across the opening.

The refrigerating-chamber has ports 0, provided with registers E,immediately below the bottom of the ice-receptacle, that communicatewith pipes a, leading to the outside of the refrigerator, as shown inFigs. 2", 3, and 6.

In family refrigerators I employ preferably two lids--an outer lid, L,covering the entire refrigerator, (which is provided with a second lid,L Fig. 2, when such refrigerators are of a size to make the outer lidtoo heavy,) an inner lid, L, covering the ice-receptacle, which is alsoprovided with a second lid, L and I leave sufficient space between thetwo lids to form a chamber, 0, into which the foul air is discharged.The lids L L are made to fit tight one upon the other and upon theice-receptacle, and the lid L is not fitted tightly so that the foul aircan'escape when the lid is not opened for some time. The lids L L serveto introduce the ice into the receptacle and the lids L and Lto withdrawthe receptacle from the box. InFigs. 5 and 6 I have shown the receptacleapplied to a retail liquor-store.

The counter M, having the faucets from which the malt-liquors are drawnis in communication with the refrigerator, and preferably in suchmanneras to permit the conducting-pipes m for the liquor to be carrieddown the cold-air fl ue R, and not through the ice-re-' ceptacle, andthrough thatcold-air flue (where two are employed) into whichthe wastewater is not discharged, as-shown in Fig. 6.

The refrigerator being, as shown, located in i the cellar or basementbelow the store, the foul air may be discharged directly into a chimney,N, and the fresh air taken through pipe 1? from any convenient pointinside oroutside the store or building, the refrigerating-chamher beingfitted not only for the storing and cooling of one or more casks, butalso for storing and cooling perishable articles, and has shelves Q, asshown in Fig. 6. The counter M is here made to serve as an additionalrefrigerator, and may be providedwith shelves ortrays for the cooling ofliquids in bottles,

- and also for maintaining the malt-liquors ascending through-pipes'm atthe desired tem-{ perature.

In Fig. 9 I have shown aslight modification of the above-describedconstruction. The pipes m, that convey themalt or other liquor to thefaucets, are inclosed within the cold-air flue R of theice-receptacleof'the upper refrigerator,

and are connected to pipes P arranged in the fioor or in the wall of thelower refrigerator,

and surrounded by any suitable non-conductin g material, 11 said pipesbeing also contained in a pipe, P, that; passes through the ice-re- Vceptacle of the lower refrigerator.

To the lower end of pipes p one extremity of one. or more flexiblepipes, at, is connected,-

' the other end being connected with a cask or casks. The waterresulting from the melting of the'ice or from condensation of vapors isdischarged from the upper refrigerator into the flue R of the lowerrefrigerator, that receives the water from itsown ice-receptacle anddrip-pan through pipe 1?, as shown.

ing in through pipe T is cooled on pass- 'in g over the ice and entersthe refrigeratingchamber through flue or flues R and the ports a and a,while the air comingin through pipe 1? is cooled on its passage throughsaid flues It and enters the refrigerating-chamber. It will be seen thatcold air is thus supplied to the refrigerating-chamber at differentelevations, and the warm air displaced thereby passes through pipe Tinto the ice-receptacle and returns to the chamber 0 in a cooled con.-dition.- It will thus be seen that an interior circulation of air isestablished thatrapidlylowers the temperature of the refrigerator. Whenthe temperature within the chamber 0 has been lowered sufficiently theregister t upon pipe T is closed. This register, admitting air directlyto the ice, causes it to melt rapidly; hence isclosed as soon as thechamber 0 is sufficiently cooled. The register E is then opened and thefoul air conducted away from the chamber 0 through pipe 0, fresh airbeing admitted through pipe P, as before, and as the pipe 6 does notcommunicate with the ice-receptacle or its flues, but is located in there frigerator-walls, the melting of the icepracticallyi ceases, and thetemperature is gradually lowered within the'chamber and flues, thuscorrespondingly lowering the incoming air as it passes down the pipe P,which itself passes through the ice-receptacle and down one of the linesIt. When the substances stored are thoroughly cooled the slides S, s, s,and E are partially closed, or may for a time be entirely closed.

Any suitable construction of register may be employed either upon thepipes inside or outside of the refrigerator or upon the cold-air ports aand a. The ends of the pipes leading to the outside of the refrigeratorshould, however, he provided with registers that will cxclude insectstherefrom. For this purposeI preferably employ the register H, (shown inFig. 8,) which is composed of a head, h, to which is attached acylinder, h, of woven-wire fabric.

Said cylinder may be fitted upon the outside of the pipe, or it may bearranged to slide into the said pipe. In either case the head h is ormay be provided with a handle, k and the outer or inner periphery of.the pipes with a spiralgroovap", into which fits a lug or lugs, hconnected with the re-enforcing band h of the woven-wire cylinder, sothat on. revolving said cylinder it may be raised to anydesired extentand held in that position. The cylinder may have two or more suchre-enforcing bands, which may be connected together and to the head bymeans of stay-rods, to give said cylinder greater rigidity.

Having described my invention,what1 claim 1s- 1. In a refrigerator, thecombination, with an inclosing-case, of an ice-receptacle having one ormore cold-air flues formed integral therewith, depending from the doorthereof, and extendingacross its entire width, means, substantiallysuchas described, to prevent the ice from entering said flues, means forconduct ing the cold air from the flues into the refrigerating chamberat or near the lowest point, means for admitting air from the outside ofthe refrigerator through said flues into the coolcontact with the coldair in such fines, and means for conducting the warm or foul air awayfrom the chamber through the walls of the refrigerator, all arranged forcooperation substantially as described and shown.

2.'In a refrigerator, an ice-receptacle provided with one or morediving-fines, closed at bottom and opening into the ice-receptacle attop, said fiue' or fines being provided with registers to conduct thecold air from the icereceptacle to the cooling-chamber, and serving as areceptacle for the waste water, as described.

3. A sheet-metal ice-receptacle for refrigerators, consisting of thevessel R and one or more diving-fines, 1t, closed at bottom and servingas supports for said ice-receptacle, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

A. An ice-receptacle for refrigerators, having a concave bottom and oneor more divingfines, serving as cold-air passages and as'a receptaclefor the Waste water resulting from the melting of the ice, said finesbeing provided with cold-air ports and a port for the discharge of thewaste water, as described.

- 5. An ice-receptaclefor refrigerators, consisting of the vessel R andone or more divingfiues, R, adapted to serve as supports for said.

receptacle and as condnit's for the cold air, in combination with aninclosing-case, in which said receptacle is removably fitted, and by.which said case is divided into an ice-receptacle and cooling-chamber,as described.

6. In a refrigerator, the combination of an inclosing-case, anice-receptacle provided with one or more diving-fines, closed at bottomand opening into said receptacle at top, said fine or fines beingprovided with registers to conduct the cold air from the receptacle intothe cooling-chamber, and an air-pipe contained in said fine or finesopening into the atmosphere at oneend and the coolin g-chamber at theother,

whereby the atmospheric air conducted to the cooling-chamber is firstcooled by and Without bringing it in direct contact with the cold airpassing through the fines, as described.

7. In a refrigerator, thecombination, with the inclosing-case providedwith a cradle, of an ice-receptacle removably suspended from saidcradle, as and for the purpose specified.

8. In a refrigerator, the combination, with the inclosing-case providedwith a cradle, of an ice-receptacle and a drip-pan for collecting thewater condensed upon the outside of said receptacle, both suspended fromsaid cradle, as and for the purpose specified.

9. In a refrigerator, the combination, with the inclosing-case, of theice-receptacle R, provided with a diving fine or fines, R, havingadjustable ports a, a, and V, of the air pipe or pipes P contained bysaid fines, and opening into the atmosphere at one end and into thecooling-chamber through said adjustable port V at the other, allarranged for co-operation as described.

10. The combination, with the ventilatingpipes, of the register H,adjnstably fitted npon or within said pipes, as described, and composedof a cylinder of woven-wire fabric and a solid head, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

11. The combination, with the ventilatingpipes having a spiral groove, pof the register H composed of a cylinder of Woven-wire fabric, providedwith a solid head and a lug adapted to fit into said groove,substantially as for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN ZIMMER.

Witnesses:

L. I HILL, JOHN P. WORD.

